The Sony I looked at was not. There was a flash during the "page turn" that would give me a headache.
They're all like that and you get used to it fairly quickly. After using it for a while, you don't even notice the refresh interval since your eyes disfocus and are already moving back up the screen while it's going on.
I just don't get the appeal. It's the sort of nickel and diming that usually implies a loss leader device, but instead, it's a premium priced device plus the nickel and diming, and absolutely locked-up DRM.
It's a niche product for people who don't have an issue with DRM. Most of what I read on my Sony Reader is generally a one time read only, so the DRM restrictions aren't really a bother. Anything more than that and I search out a trade paperback copy. The lack of permanence isn't a big deal either since the majority of my books go off to the local Half Priced Books on a yearly basis. Either way, it's gone and total cost is roughly the same. And, IMO, the reading experience on an eBook is superior to standard format paperbacks.
True, the newspaper subscriptions are overly costly. The pricing structure is workable, if somewhat costly, for text heavy magazines. The blog thing is nonsensical, but hey, it's free money for them if you're dumb or rich enough to find it worth it. But really, the device is about books and the books tend to be fairly priced.
All the proposed substitutes, iPhone (got one), netbook (got one), etc. are less expensive and more flexible, but they don't do the eBook core function nearly as well as a dedicated unit.
